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Chapter11

Once again, General Motors has found itself in hot water with the United Auto Workers. Way back when in 2007, GM signed a deal with Delphi to provide a total of $450 million for the UAW's Voluntary Employee Beneficiary – a trust set up to provide for retiree benefits, especially health care. So far, GM hasn't been willing to hand over the dough, and the UAW has decided to take The General to court over the issue.

Due to what appears to be a slight (additional) bending of the rules, the "new," post-bankruptcy General Motors has been allowed to carry the $16 billion net operating loss that was created by the "old" GM. That means that New GM will not have to pay taxes on its profits for a while, because the profits can be written off by the losses.

After a scant six weeks in bankruptcy court, General Motors is on its way out of Chapter 11. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Gerber approved the sale of GM's good assets to a new company lead by the U.S. and Canadian governments and the UAW healthcare fund, but gave vested parties four days to file an objection.

According to Reuters, General Motors is on its way into bankruptcy court today in an effort to win approval and access to additional federal funding under its asset-split plan. The automaker filed for Chapter 11 protection just 30 days ago, but it will now go before Judge Robert Gerber to sell desirable assets (think: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Buick) to "New GM" and jettison various debts and negative assets by consigning them to "Old GM," which would be liquidated. If it succeeds in winning cou

Outside of bankruptcy, General Motors and Chrysler were no longer competitive enough to remain solvent. After Chapter 11 reorganization, the two automakers will have a clean financial statement and a whole lot fewer employees, plants, and dealers. Another area where the two automakers will receive a clean bill of health is product liability lawsuits, and the savings will be huge, The Detroit News reports. GM, for example, had $928 million in liability expenses (including court costs and lawyer f

General Motors' bankruptcy endgame appears to be at hand, with word coming out that the automaker will indeed file for Chapter 11 protection early on Monday morning, which in turn is expected to trigger $30.1 billion in U.S. government loans. That funding will arrive on the heels of the $19.4 billion GM has already received since late last year, and Canada is expected to chip in an additional $9.5 billion. In exchange for that $30.1 billion in financing, Capitol Hill will receive a 60% share of

In a brief article on its website, the UK's Channel4 says that a Swedish newspaper, Dagens Industri, is reporting that supercar maker Koenigsegg is in the running to purchase either a stake in Saab, or the whole kit and caboodle.

Despite today's word of coming to terms with its major shareholders on a debt-for-equity swap, Bloomberg is reporting that General Motors will join Chrysler in filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday. The move is widely expected, but the news agency is adding a bit of flesh to the story, suggesting that what promises to be the third-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history (after Lehman Bros. and Worldcom) will indeed result in the sale of most of the automaker's assets to a new company (likely the

According to Automotive News, Visteon Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Michigan-based tier-1 supplier was spun off from the Ford Motor Company back in 2000, and it has struggled ever since. The filing took place in a Delaware courtroom, where the company has listed total assets of $4.58 billion and total debt of $5.3 million.

Chrysler has a lot of work to do in bankruptcy court to be eligible to receive another $6 billion in loans from the U.S. government. Among the many tasks requiring completion is the reduction of its dealer body. Chrysler hasn't set a timetable or announced how many dealers will be cut, but one lawyer claims to know the number and the date. Stephen Lerner from the law firm Squire Sanders reportedly said in a conference call that Chrysler is planning to cut 800 of its 3,200 dealers by Thursday of

Chrysler is nearly two weeks into its bankruptcy, and the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker is already getting an idea of just how engaged the Obama administration plans to be in the process. Chrysler planned to spend $134 million dollars on advertising during its supposed nine weeks of bankruptcy, but the Auto Task Force has reportedly cut the figure in half. Judge Arthur Gonzalez wasn't even sure 50% spending was necessary, saying "idle plants, why market?" But the Task Force apparently s

To stave off bankruptcy, General Motors must rework its union contracts, drastically cut its capacity, workforce and dealer networks – and convince creditors to take 10 cents on the dollar on $27 billion in unsecured debt. In two months. That's a herculean task for any company, much less for a monolith the size of The General.

Although the automotive industry has been bracing for a Chrysler bankruptcy for some time, last week's official announcement of a Chapter 11 filing still came as a shock. One of the long-held assertions about bankruptcy was that once one domestic automaker filed, the others would eventually be forced to follow suit. The other belief was that bankruptcies would hamper the supply chain, which would in turn hurt other automakers besides the other Detroit 2.

Building on speculation that first leaked yesterday is word this morning that a pair of Obama administration officials have told The Associated Press that Chrysler will indeed file for bankruptcy. The decision was apparently reached after debtor negotiations with hedge funds "crumbled overnight."

After yesterday's Chrysler news regarding the first-lien holders and the U.S. Treasury coming to terms, we hope none of you thought the Pentastar had gotten off the see-saw. The latest tidbit comes from Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, but it comes via CAW head Ken Lewenza. According to Lewenza, Marchionne said that with two days left before Chrysler's got to show viability or go under, that "regardless of all the bondholders and stakeholders coming to the pump," if Marchionne had to put his money on

According to a lengthy report by the New York Times, the Treasury Department is directing General Motors to begin work on a bankruptcy filing by June 1. Based on sources close to the talks who were unable to officially discuss the process, the report outlines the "fast 'surgical' bankruptcy" of the automaker if GM is unable to reach an agreement with the UAW and bondholders to exchange some $28 billion in debt into equity in the automaker.

According to an unnamed source speaking with Reuters, General Motors "is in 'intense' and 'earnest' preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing." The report states that GM could be split into two separate entities; one "new" unit consisting of the General's successful brands (read: Chevrolet and Cadillac) and an "old" unit made up of its less-profitable endeavors (Hummer, Saab, Pontiac and Saturn).

Whenever we drive from Los Angeles to Phoenix, we always stop at the Flying J in Blythe, California to refuel - and that might mean "refueling" on coffee, trail mix and a rented audiobook instead of gasoline.

Anyone who knows even a little bit (like I do) about American Specialty Cars is usually fascinated. After all, this is the company behind the Buick GNX, but it's also the company behind the Chevy SSR. Unfortunately, the latter vehicle was the one that did ASC in. According to Automotive News, ASC invested $250 million in its operation to produce the SSR truck for General Motors in 2001 along with three other unspecifed vehicles. The three unnamed vehicles were cancelled and, as we all know, the

It's been a year since Delphi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the supplier is still trying to find ways to return to profitability. One of the things it's identified as a way to get back into the black is ridding themselves of unprofitable contracts with General Motors. They have been quietly shifting some of these orders to outside firms. One example is the contract for GM full-sized pickup truck steering knuckles that recently went to EaglePicher Corp., which is no stranger to